Fly Like An Eagle
by Al Kristopher
Summary: Lita is faced with a dilemma. She must overcome her fear of flying if she wants to attend Serena's wedding. Can our favorite brunette find the courage she needs, with a little help from her friends?


On a side note, this will be my final Sailor Moon story. I want to dedicate it to everyone who stuck with me for all the ones that preceded it.

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Fly Like an Eagle

By Al Kristopher

Dilemma: An argument presenting two or more equally conclusive alternatives against an opponent; seemingly incapable of satisfactory solution.

Courage: Mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.

Once upon a time, Lita M. Kino was faced with a dilemma, one that presented her with a path of almost impassible venture; a fork that allowed two decisions, both bearing their pros and cons, and neither one of them easy to realize. In short, upon one green and blue morning in her private residence, she was presented with good news and bad news. She did not have very long to respond to this new crisis.

The good news was that, at long last, two of her dearest friends were being wedded. It had been an event which was the topic of countless conversations, some playful and some starkly serious, and when the friends of the engaged were finally alerted, there was some cause for celebration between all of them. Exclamations of "Finally!", "It's about time!", and "I can't wait to see them again!" lifted up from their mouths, and decisions were made to attend.

Of course, the marriage was between Serena Tsukino and her seemingly lifelong beloved, Darien Shields. It had been as inevitable as the next sunset. It was really only a matter of time before the friends of the wedded would be alerted of this arrangement: letters would be sent out, inviting everyone under the sun, it seemed, to the blessed event. Lita was just one of the many who received these invitations, and at first, she was excited and happy about the whole thing. But then the bad news struck her.

Upon reading further into the letter, she began to remember that, not too long ago, her friends had briefly moved away to another country, far across the oceans. Their home, as temporary as it was, was situated somewhere in the tropics, which might have accentuated the romantic atmosphere for the upcoming wedding. That was gracious, but Lita's problem came with her upcoming attendance. The island was very far away, and no boat traveled there. All residents and visitors were flown in or out, and as anyone who knew Lita Kino well enough would say, the strong brunette had a great fear of flying.

It had all gone back to her childhood roots, when her parents were killed on a plane crash. She was certainly compensated well for her loss, and had lived her life with amazing strength and heart, but the event gave her a trauma that would last the rest of her years. With the very recent addition of terrorist problems, her fears were even more justified, and so any kind of aerial travel was too frightening for her to think about.

But she could not just simply refuse to attend the wedding of two of her closest friends.

Here was where Lita encountered the greatest dilemma of her life. She was faced with two very cruel options without any ground for a third. She could either refuse to fly on the plane and thus miss the ceremony, or bite the bullet and face her greatest fear for a bountiful reward. She was indeed faced with a dreadful problem, but one that many people must face sooner or later in their lives.

In the end, all humans must be subjugated into facing what they dread the most, or else they will simply remain afraid of the Something for the rest of their days. That eternal fear would only serve to eat away at their lives, sucking up any kind of enjoyment--and the enjoyment that was under this particular threat of being sucked up was a big one.

There was no question in her mind over whether she would attend or not; it was sheer nonsense to consider staying home while all her friends were away at the wedding. Her heart was in the right place, which was a good enough step, but the rest of her Self was still pondering over the dreaded flight. She did NOT want to get on an airplane. At first, Lita tried the resourceful way and conducted an exhaustive search for alternative methods, from sailing to underwater train, and even swimming. Alas, they were all impossible to accomplish; the island had no ports, and no train even came close to it.

Lita Kino needed help. She did not want to go through with the ordeal of facing her terrors, for though she was strong, even the brunette could have her moments of weaknesses. Her friends sympathized, and a few tried to give her words of encouragement and cheerleading, but they were about as useful as a pile of ashes. She needed true help, psychological and physical help, and when it came to people she could rely on for assistance, one name immediately came to mind: that of her childhood friend, Shinozaki--or Ken, as she sometimes called him.

He agreed to help her without a second thought.

And so, Lita was given the opportunity to see what "courage" really meant to her.

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When she greeted Shinozaki at the door, Lita gave him a hug and a brief kiss on the cheek. Exalting over how glad she was to see him again, and how good he was for helping her, she invited him in and gave him a glass of water and a seat. He cleared his throat, and looked quite professional when he placed a briefcase on her kitchen table and opened it up, revealing a few items associated with air travel.

"Lita, from this moment on, I'll dedicate as much of my time and patience as I can to getting you to the point where you'll be over your fear of flying, but I won't help you unless you want me to. Now are you sure you want my help?"

"Yes," she said without a moment's hesitation. There had been a moment of doubt as she looked at the devices displayed in his briefcase, but her love of her friends (she believed) would enable her to conquer her fears. Ken cleared his throat and began, first by getting out an instruction manual.

"This here is a pamphlet I got from my most recent trip to the airport, where I picked my mother up from her vacation," he explained. "It's not exactly up-to-date, but it'll do for now. It basically lists a lot of facts and truths about the airport industry; it's mostly there to assure you that even though the field of aeronautics isn't perfect, like everything else, they still manage to stay in business." Lita accepted the sheet of paper with a nod and looked over the information carefully.

Aside from a few wild, irreverent facts and recent statistics, there was nothing she hadn't seen before on the paper. It was mostly just the same: the odds of a plane being struck down versus the odds of her being blasted by lightning while getting the mail (or funnier still, the odds of her being attacked by wild pigs versus a plane crash); the number of safe, uneventful air trips in the past ten years versus the number of aerial disasters; the advancements of air travel; new devices on the planes that allowed for very high survival rates in case of an accident…

"This is very helpful," managed Lita quietly, trying not to sound doubtful or reluctant about everything. That was like her, trying to put on a good face in times of crisis. "I've read some of this before, but… I'm still not certain." Shinozaki said nothing and fished out another pamphlet for her to read.

"I asked your friend Miss Mizuno about how airplanes work. I've secretly wondered how such heavy machines stay in the air. I understand that barges use buoyancy, but until recently, I didn't know about planes. I even boned up on the Wright brothers' studies and that of Otto Lilienthal, the man they derived much of their work from. Most primitive planes, it says here, were designed after the body structure of birds."

"That makes sense," shrugged Lita. She scanned over the writings that Amy and Ken had researched, and learned that airplanes oftentimes utilized vacuums in their flight. Since nature abhorred vacuums, it compensated by letting the air rush over the plane's wings. The lift provided by the plane had to equal its own weight; the forward thrust of the engines equaled its drag; the wings lifted because their upper surface was more convex than the lower. Everything had to have a balance for it to work, and apparently, it worked well since there was a huge business in it.

"I… don't understand half of it, but thanks anyway," replied Lita honestly. Shinozaki gave her a smile and drank from his cup.

"That's okay, neither do I. All we need to know is that it works. Now, we're going to try a few hands-on things. I brought a toy airplane with me for you to play with first."

"You're kidding, right?" she blurted, taken aback. Shinozaki shook his head and revealed a handheld airplane made out of metal, and handed it to his friend. Lita examined the toy with a bemused smirk, as if she were looking at it for the first time.

"Fly it like you would fly a real airplane," instructed her friend. Lita shook her head, and lamely guided the toy through the air in circles. She wasn't putting much heart into it, but Ken could tell that she was trying. "You know," he said as she played, "my psychology teacher says that the smallest steps are what helps the most. The fact that you can even look at and touch a small airplane is a big enough step."

"I'm not scared of airplanes themselves, Ken," said Lita as she made the toy dip up and down. "It's just flying, that's all. Not heights, not planes, just flying."

"All right, I understand. For what it's worth, you'd make a great pilot."

"Yeah right!" Lita grinned and pretended to crash the toy onto the floor, even making zooming and exploding sound effects to accompany it. Shinozaki chuckled in good spirits, and hid the toy away. He then instructed Lita to sit down at a chair, and brought out headphones and a cassette.

"I made a special request to get a recording of a standard flight take-off," he said as he handed the items to his friend. "It sounds corny, but it might put your mind at ease. If you can at least listen to a plane taking off, while in the comfort of your own home, with a friend like me at your side, then you can make good progress."

"Yeah… this sounds a little more reasonable than the last one!" added Lita with a smile. Shinozaki admired how well her spirits were adapting to the "brutal tests" he was putting her through, but then again, she stated that she was willing to undergo the treatment, for the reward of attending her friends' wedding was worth the effort. As per Ken's instructions, she put on the headphones and turned the cassette on, first keeping her eyes open.

She only became faintly nervous as she listened to the recording of takeoff procedures and sound effects. Keeping her eyes open reminded her that she was at home, on the ground, in her own kitchen with her closest friend just a touch away. She gave him a watery smile and managed to lift her thumb up. After hearing the recording about five times, Ken asked her to do it with her eyes closed. He held onto her hand as per _her_ request.

The first time through was a little unnerving for poor Lita, as her imagination began to go wild. She could almost feel herself locked into a seat, and could sense the vibration of the plane as it sputtered to life and lifted off the ground. Showing visible signs of anxiety, despite hearing the exact same recording for the sixth time, she flinched and slowly opened her eyes. She had clutched Ken's hand like a vice.

"That was really great!" he exclaimed, smiling broadly. "Wow, you did really well! I remember when you used to scream whenever an airplane soared overhead, but now you didn't even squeak! It must've been because you heard that recording before, and were prepared for what was coming."

"…Yeah, maybe," she replied with a bashful smile. "But… I was still scared. I guess my imagination got the best of me. I'm glad you held my hand, though. Maybe you should say something nice to me next time."

"Yeah, maybe. You want to listen to it again?" Lita firmly nodded her head.

"I have to. I want to. I must! Bring it on!!!" She squeezed his hand hard, making it groan out in pain a little, but Shinozaki didn't mind at all. He was used to Lita's strength, and didn't really mind if it made her feel better. When she heard the recording next, he spoke to her and kept her close by stroking her hand softly. She heard it a third and fourth time afterwards, becoming calmer and calmer after every time, until she could listen to it without any problems.

"I think I'm making progress," she sighed as she removed the headphones. Shinozaki smiled and rubbed her shoulder.

"Yeah, you really are. You're beginning to impress even me, Lita, and I've known you since I was old enough to drool. I know all this is helping you, but I'm sure there's more than just that. You must have some other motivation for wanting to conquer your fear."

"…Yeah," she admitted after giving it some thought, "I do. A lot of motivation, actually, and not just cuz' it's Serena's and Darien's wedding. I… really feel like it's time I… got over this fear of mine. It's getting a little silly!"

"No shame in having a fear," shrugged Shinozaki sympathetically. "It just means we're human. We find courage and heroism by facing what terrifies us the most, and coming out of it stronger than before."

"How sweet…" sighed Lita with a warm smile. She chuckled, rolled her eyes, and added with a sardonic wink, "Or corny! Ha! Hey, you got any more toys in that bag?" Shinozaki gave her an impish smile, digging his hand into his bag to find the next object.

"Oh, I'm not done with you yet, Lita Makoto Kino! Not by a longshot!"

For the next few days, Shinozaki visited Lita over and over again, staying for as long as he was needed and leaving every day with new promises and advancements being added to his friend's spirit. They read poems about flying together, and saw movies where people used airplanes a lot--mostly humorous ones. Ken showed her a very detailed model of an airplane that he had made a few years back, showing many of the features that kept it safe. Lita was invited to interact with the model, first by flying it through the air, then by imagining herself in it.

One day, they drove to an airport and stayed for a few hours. Lita was slightly uncomfortable, but swallowed her anxiety and agreed to wander around the area. Even visiting airports was troublesome for her, so neither one of them accomplished anything major--they just walked around and looked. They stayed for a very long time, until Lita was comfortable and even bored with her surroundings.

Meanwhile, the wedding day was crawling closer and closer. Lita had already bought tickets (Shinozaki was going with her, of course), and her flight was approaching. She grew a little more nervous each day, but dear sweet Shinozaki continued to coach and cheerlead her, until she became calm and focused. They did all kinds of exercises together, from pretending to fly in the park to shouting out simple phrases such as, "I'm going to fly in seven days" over and over again.

Shinozaki took his best friend to the airport each and every day, until she began to anticipate the journey. She even told him that she had been listening to the tape without him, and was quite comfortable with hearing the noise in the house by herself. She had gotten a layman's explanation of aerodynamics from Amy (or rather Rei, who translated the confusing jargon), and understood how the machines worked despite what common sense dictated. Eventually, she even claimed that she was prepared, though of course a few loose ends still had to be tied.

The most significant part of Lita's ordeal (and it truly was an ordeal, mixed with education, learning, pain, and patience) was also the most personal. Shinozaki invited her to visit the graves of her parents and speak to them about her fears, so one sunny day just before her big debut flight, he took her to the cemetery and waited by an oak tree as she attended to the grave.

It was a peaceful, quiet day, almost merry in a sense despite the morbid surroundings. Through years of living alone, Lita had come to terms with the loss of her parents, and believed them to be in a very happy place, although a bit sad since their only child was not with them. She gave "them" a warm, happy smile as she approached their shared tomb, and sat on the ground cross-legged as if it were an everyday thing for her.

"Yo, mama! Papa! It's me again, your beautiful and talented daughter, the great Lita Makoto Kino! Yeah, I'm kinda here about that whole airplane thing, see. The thing is, I've been invited to my friends' wedding, and I've been looking forward to it… oh, all my life, I guess you could say. Anyway, it's in some other country across the island, so I have to fly there. Yeah, that sucks.

"I… I'm really scared, guys…" Lita's voice slowly lost its pep, and became as quiet and somber as the grave she was visiting as she continued. "I want to go to this wedding so badly, but… when I think of how you died, I just get so scared. I've tried to cope over the years, and I've been doing really well for myself. I've slowly come to grips with things, and with the help of a real good friend, I've made it this far. I've really come along--you'd be proud of me--so I was just wondering if the two of you would be kind enough to give me your blessings before I go on this trip. That's all I want.

"I'll be sure to take care of myself," she assured them warmly as she drew to a conclusion. "I'm really looking forward to this wedding, I really am. Maybe someday… I'll find a nice man myself, and together we'll have a colossal ceremony. Of course, I don't think it will be in another country! Hehehehehe! Anyway, I guess I'll talk to you guys later. Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope we don't meet again for a very long time. G'bye." Lita Kino kissed the headstones, bowed deeply, and walked away to rejoin Shinozaki. When he asked her if she was ready to go, she smiled and told him that she was.

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Whether she was ready or not, the day and hour of her flight was upon her. Lita came well dressed to the airport after spending the early hours of the morning packing and mentally preparing herself. Shinozaki was with her almost the entire time, and held onto her hand in support as he took her from her car to the main building. Lita's face was unreadable, but was definitely in deep concentration, firm as a rock and ready to face her greatest battle yet. Shinozaki's training had been helpful, but his presence there was what made Lita most courageous. As he had always been in the past, he was there for her, being the sturdy foundation he was--and for that alone, Lita truly did love him.

Without much hassle, the two of them went through customs and came out without many problems. Lita drew in a few breaths before going down the long hall that connected to the airplane itself, and stopped briefly before going inside. A security guard gave her an inquisitive stare as he saw her remain stationary.

"She used to have a fear of flying," explained Shinozaki gently. The guard understood and told her to take her time. Lita raised her head high, stood straight, and clenched her fist and jaw as she stared into the doorway that would lead her to the plane.

"…I'm ready, Ken. I'm ready anytime. Let's do this and get it over with!"

"That a girl," he whispered, giving her a smile of encouragement. He took Lita through the doorway and ducked into the airplane, her hand clutching onto his even tighter. They calmly found a seat and buckled themselves in, and waited for the machine to take off and transport them to the new country. Lita's hand never unclenched from his the entire time.

"This should be old hat for me, but I'm still a bit giddy," she admitted with a weak smile. Shinozaki smiled and squeezed her hand gently.

"That's okay. Just stay calm, take soothing breaths, and hold my hand. You're a brave, strong woman, Lita, and you can get through this. I know you can. I believe in you." She looked over at him and gave him a sweet grin.

"Thanks."

An hour passed, and finally, the airplane took off, with an anxious young lady riding in one for the first time ever. To her relief, the ride went off without a hitch, and for the next two hours, Lita slowly grew to enjoy her ride--from time to time, of course.

"Just because I'm not really afraid anymore," she mentioned with a smile, "that doesn't mean that I have to _like_ it!"

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Lita Kino and Shinozaki both let out a sigh as the stewardess bade them farewell and good day. Lita, however, stayed behind just long enough to explain to the cheery woman that it had been her first trip on an airplane, and up until that time, she had been terrified of flying because of a childhood trauma. The experience, though, was definitely something she liked going through, and so she thanked the stewardess for caring, and told her to give congratulations to the skilled pilot for making the trip smooth. Puzzled but pleased, the older lady did so and wished the two of them a fun trip.

"Well," sighed Shinozaki, raising his arms and putting them behind his head as Lita rejoined him, "that wasn't so bad, was it?" She gave him a smile and a friendly nudge in the ribs.

"No… Actually, it wasn't. You know, it really wasn't bad at all. Now that I've experienced it, I'm really not quite sure what I was so afraid of. I guess… I really just needed somebody there with me, that's all." She smiled and gave him another friendly poke, then drew his arm down so she could link up with it again. Together, without any more obstacles in their way, they found a taxicab and were rewarded for all of their troubles. That, perhaps, was the best sort of end that Lita could ever expect for her brief crucible.

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The End


End file.
